Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is very disturbing. I assume there will be significant fallout from it but it brings back to what Deputy McAuliffe spoke about and Circular 13/2014, which essentially sets out the public financial management principles, procedures and reporting requirements to be followed by grantors and grantees for Exchequer grant funding. Section 3 of the circular sets out certain requirements for the grantors of Exchequer grant funding while section 5 sets out obligations that the recipients of Exchequer funding are required to comply with.

Earlier, Mr. Doyle spoke about transparency. However, in December 2020, the Department sought a derogation, which it did not receive. At the same time, it issued a circular to local authorities permitting them to omit the disclosures required under the circular from their annual financial statements. Can Mr. Doyle tell the committee why the Department does not require local authorities to report on the sources of grant funding in light of what we have just discussed about transparency and accountability? How did the Department come to this conclusion?